Orchard-heater.



H. T. LIBBY.

ORCHARD HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED D3016. 1012.

1 72,242, Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

ATTORNEYS OFFICE.

HARRY T. LIBBY, or ALVIN, TEXAS.

ORCHARD-HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

Application filed December 16, 1912. Serial No. 736,968.

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY T. Lmnr, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Alvin, in the county of Brazoria and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Orchard-Heaters, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to orchardhcatersthat is to heaters adapted to beplaced out in the orchard for the purpose of preventing injury to fruittrees from cold.

More particularly stated, my invention contemplates a heater providedwith a number of compartments separated from each other by appropriatemeans for preventing the undue transmission of heat, my constructionthus promoting safety of the apparatus.

My invention further contemplates the use of one or more flames suppliedby fuel at points spaced apart along the heater so that either a singleflame or a number of such flames as desired may be employed according tocircumstances.

My invention further relates to various improvements in the heatingmechanism for the purpose of improving the general efficiency of thesame.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification in which like letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective View showing my heater complete and ready foruse; Fig. 2

is a longitudinal vertical section through the heater showing it as itappears when flame is issuing from one of the compartments; Fig. 3 is avertical section through my heat ing mechanism, showing the same as usedwith one kind of burner; Fig. 4 is a detail showing the wind shieldwhich I employ for protecting the flame from the wind; Fig. 5 is adetail showing in perspective a detachable burner which I may employ inconnection with the other parts; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section on theline 6-6 of Fig. 3, showing how the burner is supported within thecasing; and, Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the partitions.

The casing 8 having generally the form of a box is made of sheet metaland is provided with pleats 8, 8", for facilitating the introduction andsupport of the partitions. These partitions are shown at 9, 10, 11. 12,and are of the general type indicated in Fig. 7. Each partition isprovided with an opening'disposed midway of its bottom edge. Eachpartition is further provided with side tilted and thus opened.

flanges, these flanges being inserted into the folds of the pleats 8, 8so as to support the rmrtitions and hold the same firml 1n position aswell as to space the partitions relatively to each other. By aid of thepartitions there are formed a number of compartments 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.Within these compartments are contained portions 13, 15", 17, ofcombustible oil, suchfor instance, as coal oil. By combustible oil, Imean such oil as when heated will generate or throw off a vapor capableof burnin so as to support or maintain a flame as indicated at the leftof Fig. 2. Between the compartments 13, 15, and 17, are compartments 14,16 which are filled with masses 14, 16 of earth, sand, or anyapproprlate material suitable for preventing the rapid transmission ofheat.

I provide a conduit 18 having the form of an inverted trough as will beunderstood from Figs. 2 and 3. This conduit is provided with an opening19 in which is removably inserted a closure member 20 such as a cork. Inusing a heavy oil, such for instance as crude petroleum, I remove thecork 20 so as to allow the liquid to pass or circulate freely throughthe opening 19. In the event that I use a lighter oil such for instanceas gasolene, I place the cork 20 in the opening 19 and remove all liquidfrom the entire device. I then fill the compartment 17 with the gasolenewhich finds its Way through the conduit 18 and into the compartment 13,but is unable to eflect an entrance into the compartment 15. Thecompartment 15 thus serves as an air chamber, and together with thecompartments 14, 16, with their contents, efiectively prevents thetravel of heat from the compartment 13 to the compartment 17.

I provide a number .of lids 21, 22, 23, for the purpose of normallycovering portions of the casing. These lids may be severally I alsoprovide a number of plates 24, 25, in this instance two in numberserving as coverings for portions of the casing. these plates'coactingwith the movable lids but being always firmly fixed in position upon thecasing.

In some instances I ignite the oil, or rather the vapor arising from theoil, directly and without the aid of a burner, as indicated at the leftof Fig. 2. It is sometimes desirable however to employ a burner carryinga wick. I therefore provide a burner 27, shown more particularly inFigs. 3 and 5. This burner carries a loop 26 of wire havingsubstantially a U-shape and secured at'its ends upon the burner. Theburner is further provided with a slot 28 and with a wick shaft 29, thelatter having a milled head 30 and being provided with a well knownmeans for raising and lowering a wick Within the compartments 13, 15,are mounted slide-ways 31 each having the form indicated in Fig. 6,these slide-ways being arranged in pairs. The guide wire 26 of theburner '27 is fitted and otherwise adapted to enter the slide-ways 31and by this means the burner is retained in position and properly spacedrelatively to other parts. The wick is shown at 32 and extends throughthe slot 28, being controllable by rotation of the milled head 30. Asthe wind may tend sometimes to interfere with the flame or flames usedin connection with this purpose, I provide one or more shields 33 eachhaving integral with it a number of spring fingers 34 so arranged thatthe shield may be mounted in position upon one of the partitions 9 or11. The casing is then turned, so that the wind, owing to its direction,will strike against the wind shield 33 and the flame will thus beprotected and pre-' vented from blowing out. In order to mount the windshield in position, the spring fingers 34- are bent or sprung slightlyso that every other finger is upon a side of the shield opposite to thatwhere the next successive finger is placed. The structure is calked,painted internally, or otherwise treated to render it air-tight.

. The operation of my device will be readily understood from theforegoing description.

I One or some of the compartments 13, 15 is brought into use accordingto whether we desire to have one or more flames, and this is ordinarilydetermined by the temperature of the atmosphere. Again, the burner shownin Fig. 5 may or may not be employed, this depending mainly upon thecharacter of the fuel used. The compartment 15 may be used either as anoil chamher in the nature of a resorvoir or may be used as a burnerchamber. In either of these events, the fuel employed is heavy oil notvery volatile. If a highly volatile oil, such as gasolene, be used, thecompartment 15 is maintained empty as above explained and thus serves asanzair chamber. When the device is employed as just stated, the

may, if desired, be used as a combustion compartmentin which event theflames will issue through the opening made by'raising the lid 23. Inthis event the compartments 13 and 15 may be used as oil reservoirs.

As may be readily understood from the foregoing description, any or allof the compartments employed may be used as combustion chambers and anycompartments not so used may be employed as fuel reservoirs. Again, anydesirable number of burners 27 may be employed and arranged so that eachcombustion chamber contains one or more of said burners.

I do not limit myself to the precise form shown, the scope of myinvention being commensurate with my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows 1. A device of the characterdescribed comprising a casing provided with a plurality of partitionswhich together form a plurality of oil storage compartments and oilburning compartments, a conduit extending through two of said partitionsand establishing communication from an oil storage compartment to an oilburning compartment comparatively distant therefrom, said conduit beingprovided with an opening which merges into one of said compartments, anda closure member for closing said opening. I

2. A device of the character described comprising a casing, a pluralityof partitions mounted therein and adapted to form separate oil storagecompartment and oil burning compartments, and a wind shield providedwith spring fingers for engaging said partitions in order to preventwind from extinguishing the flame issuing from a compartment adjacentsaid wind shield.

3. A device of the character described comprising a casing, a pluralityof parti tions mounted therein and spaced apart to form separatecompartments, means for establishing communication between saidcompartments, and a wind shield provided with spring fingers adapted tobend in different directions for engaging one of said partitions for thepurpose of supporting the same in proper position to prevent atmosphericwinds from extinguishing a flame issuing from a compartmentadjacent'said wind shield.

4. An orchard heater comprising an oblong box provided with a pluralityof par-- titions spaced apart and forming a number of separatecompartments, aconduit extending from one compartment to another for thepurpose of establishing communication therebetween, a filling in one ofsaid compartments located between other compartments for the purpose ofseparating the latter, and means for causing a flame to issue from oneof said compartments.

5. An orchard heater comprising an ohlong box, a plurality of partitionsmounted therein and spaced apart so as to form compartments, some ofsaid partitions being provided with openings, a conduit extending fromthe opening in one partition to the opening in another partition for thepurpose of establishing communication between two compartments locatedsome distance apart, and a wind shield located between two of saidcompartments.

6. An orchard heater comprising a casing provided with an oil burningcompartment,

an oil storage compartment, a heat insulating compartment locatedbetween said oil burning compartment and said oil storage 15 burningcompartment and said oil sto'age 20 compartment.

HARRY T. LIBBY.

Witnesses:

WALTON HARRISON, F. C. BARRY.

